BETHLEHEM, Pa., June 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Young Women's Christian Association of Bethlehem PA ("YWCA Bethlehem"), a community services organization, has now completed its investigation into its data incident and is sending notices to affected individuals and relevant state and federal agencies about the incident.

On February 26, 2024, YWCA Bethlehem discovered suspicious activity involving two (2) of the organization's email accounts. YWCA Bethlehem immediately began an investigation and took steps to contain the situation, including changing passwords, expanding the use of multi-factor authentication, engaging cybersecurity and privacy professionals to assist the investigation, and engaging additional experts to improve security and privacy practices going forward.

The investigation found that unauthorized actors potentially acquired data from the affected YWCA Bethlehem email accounts in February 2024. While there is currently no indication that the unauthorized actors have misused any information for identity theft or fraud in connection with this incident, YWCA Bethlehem is providing this notice so any individuals who may be potentially affected are made aware of the situation. Now that our investigation is complete, YWCA Bethlehem is also sending written notification letters to any impacted individuals for whom a last-known address could be identified and reporting the incident to relevant governmental agencies.

The investigation determined that the following types of information may have been impacted: name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license number or other government-issued identification number, financial account information, payment card number, username/email address and password, clinical or treatment information, medical provider name, medical record number, patient account number, medical procedure information, health insurance information, and/or prescription information. Note that this describes general categories of information identified as present within the affected systems during the incident and includes categories that are not relevant to each individual whose information may have been present.

Although YWCA Bethlehem is unaware of any misuse or identity fraud related to this incident, it encourages individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements, explanation of benefits forms, and to monitor free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Under U.S. law, individuals are entitled to 1 free credit report annually from each of the 3 major credit reporting bureaus. Additional information and resources are outlined below.

Moreover, information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps an individual can take to protect personal information may be obtained by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or the appropriate state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Individuals can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by calling 1-877-438-4338. Individuals should file a police report if they are a victim of identity theft or fraud. To file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, an individual will likely need to provide some proof that they have been a victim.

If you have questions, you can contact YWCA Bethlehem at 888-499-0741, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (excluding some U.S. national holidays).

For media inquiries only please contact Dan Greene, (716) 898-2102

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SOURCE YWCA Bethlehem